<p>After William Albert woke up Sunday morning he couldn't believe someone had stolen his 15-foot-tall inflatable Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer lawn decoration.</p><p>“I think that's a pretty miserable thing to do,” said Albert, who lives in the 12000 block of Southeast 108th Terrace Road in Belleview.</p><p>For a little more than a week, the giant, animated reindeer had charmed members of the community.</p><p>“People slowed down to get a better look. A few people took pictures,” Albert said. “It did get a lot of attention. I'm thinking too much attention from the wrong person.”</p><p>It was sometime between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday morning that Rudolph got “Grinched.”</p><p>“We made up a sign and put it on the fence: 'Rudolph stolen. Please help us find him. Merry Christmas,' ” Albert said.</p><p>“I don't know what they are going to do with it. If they put it up people will know right away where it came from. It's nothing you can buy locally,” Albert added.</p><p>The reindeer was ordered by Albert earlier this year from the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog and cost $399.95. But he is more upset with what the theft represents than the dollar value of the loss.</p><p>“I don't know what to think about people anymore,” he said. “Things are just getting too weird.”</p><p>Theft of Christmas decorations, however, is nothing new.</p><p>“We see it every year. There's not a rash of it going on, but it happens,” said Capt. James Pogue, Marion County Sheriff's Office spokesman.</p><p>The agency is investigating the theft, but Albert did a bit of his own sleuth work on the case.</p><p>On the lawn, near where Rudolph once stood, he found a receipt from a restaurant chain.</p><p>“It was a bill for two people from that night. One had a shrimp dinner and the other a steak,” Albert said.</p><p>When he contacted the restaurant, they told him the dinners were paid for with a gift card and had no name attached.</p><p>“They had a nice dinner and then wrapped up the evening by stealing Rudolph,” Albert said.</p><p>Despite the incident, he and his wife, Donna, plan to have a merry Christmas.</p><p>“It was a little bit of a spirit breaker, but it won't stop us from enjoying the holiday,” he said.</p><p>Anyone with information about the incident can call the Sheriff's Office at 732-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 368-STOP.</p>